by Danny Danziger and John Gillingham. 290 pages.I tore through this popular history. Immensely informative and enjoyable. Though there were times when it just seemed like review. That at some point popular histories begin to overlap. This one, like other histories showed what medieval life was like back then. Covering the politics, religion, economics, and also relations within the European world. Each history will have new information depending on the inclinations of its authors, but the overlap is always going to be there. The charm of medieval history are the anecdotes. Here is one of my favorites from this book:
"Since the fifth century leprosy had often been interpreted as the reward for sexual excess. One of the early Norman bishops of London, Hugh d'Orival, chose to be castrated in the hope of obtaining a cure but, according to William of Malmesbury, the only result was that he spent the rest of his life a eunuch as well as a leper" (206).
At first this was a delightful little anecdote of a man doing something ludicrous. I laughed heartily at his error, knowing full well that castration is never a cure for leprosy. After I caught my breath I felt sorry for the bishop. He used his faith and failed, and had the rest of his tragic life to meditate on that fact. This is one of those times that it is and it isn't funny.
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